


The Double-Cross

by Wyvern (ann)



Category: A-Team
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-23
Updated: 2010-09-23
Packaged: 2017-10-12 03:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/120212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ann/pseuds/Wyvern
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Can the Team rescue Face once his cover has been blown by the Mafia?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Double-Cross

Templeton Peck - alias the Faceman of the famous A-Team - knew that he was in trouble. Casting a sideways glance at Sonny Camporefe, Peck slowly wriggled his hands that were tied firmly behind him again, testing the bonds that held him securely. The gentle swaying of the car hid his actions and he continued to work at the bonds, even after he felt the telltale sign of blood dripping down onto his hands. He had to get free before the vehicle stopped. After that, his captors would lead him away from the car and into a shallow grave.

With an effort, he bit back the gasp of pain that welled up as the car swerved more sharply and he was thrown against the side of the vehicle. The beating he had received had been thorough, and every inch of his body ached with each movement. His ribs protested with flashes of agony as he vainly pulled on the ropes again. As he worked, he let his mind slip back over the past few days, trying to work out how he had got into this position without back-up.

***

The young girl had been almost tearful as she begged Hannibal Smith for help, and Peck knew that they would take the mission. He had seen the colonel face many situations without flinching or batting an eyebrow, but he still had not learned how to say no to a pretty woman who was crying. Peck tilted his head and gave Murdock a quick glance: the man was watching the scene before him with deep expressive eyes that told their own story of suffering with the girl.

Face would have liked to sigh heavily and urge the interview on, but he knew that - although he was immune to the plight of a crying woman - the others were not, and so they would let her gasp her story out until she had finished and was able to dab at her pretty eyes. Then they could offer their help and get on with the job.

"...So they are going to hurt my brother unless he can come up with the money or help them in robbing the bank," she gasped, giving them all another tearful look.

"It's going to be all right, Maggie," Smith said, gently patting the girl's hands. "Don't you worry - those slimeballs are not going to hurt either your brother or your family."

"But they are so mean. They came to the house yesterday and broke up the living room," she muttered about the handkerchief that she had raised to wipe her face with.

Face winced as her eyes began to fill with renewed tears. This was going to be a long interview. Although he could feel sorry for her plight, he had little sympathy for the brother who had fallen into huge gambling debts with the local mob - who had then offered him a way of clearing his slate with them by participating in the robbing of a bank.

Peck snapped back to attention as Smith called his name for a second time. He smiled at the frown this lack of attention earned him and moved forward to take the girl off Hannibal's hands. "See that she gets home, and then meet us back at the hotel."

Face nodded his head in agreement and skilfully weaved the girl out of the disused factory they had arranged the meeting in. She clung to him until they reached his car, and then - after sniffing a few times - she climbed into it and sat in total silence, while Face spoke words of quiet reassurance until they reached the house where she lived with her brother.

"Thank you," she whispered about another sniff as she climbed from the car. "I'm very grateful for all your help," she added as she closed the door. Peck watched as she walked into the house and then, after checking his mirror, he pulled away and headed back to the hotel.

***

The hotel was a hive of activity when Peck reached it. Hannibal was going over a plan with Murdock, who was shaking his head and pointing out a slight detail that the colonel had missed. Seeing the young lieutenant, Smith motioned him forward, saying, "Tony Marco has a very exclusive restaurant in the good part of town, and he apparently has a gambling joint behind the place."

"How are we going to get inside?" Face asked, taking his coat off and moving to sit beside the colonel. He knew that they would take the man out from the inside, and they needed someone in there to action the plan. He also knew who was going to be placed in that dangerous position.

"We'll use the old 'rob them and you foul it up' routine," Smith said with a flourish, around the ever-present cigar he had in his mouth. "Then you win his confidence and..."

"That's always dangerous, Hannibal," Face interrupted as he began to gripe.

Smith held up his hand, shooting back, "We've got a week, maximum, to get this job done. Decker's been on our tail for the past six weeks and we've not lost him for long."

"Then why do the job?" Face reasoned, looking toward Murdock for support. The crazy-acting member of the team looked down and refused to meet his gaze. "Hannibal, this is a crazy risk to take. Let the girl go to the police - they're better suited to handle this."

Smith let the younger man rant for a few moments; he knew that what Face was saying was true, and yet he had given the young woman his word that they would help. "Scum like this needs to be taken out, Face... you know that," he stated after the other man had finished.

Peck wanted to argue further, felt his anger boil, but he knew that to do so would only get the older man annoyed, and Face seemed to be doing that a lot lately. It was not that he intended to upset his friend or push against his authority with the team, it was just that Hannibal seemed to be taking more and more risks with them, always searching for that so-elusive 'jazz' he often spoke about.

"A week?" Face finally asked, pulling over the sheet of paper they had been working the plan out on. "To do this?" He pointed at the sheet, then suppressed a sigh, knowing that answer. Instead he asked, "Where's BA?"

"Out getting the van hidden," Murdock supplied, glad that another argument was not going to happen. He knew that Peck was fighting against Smith's urges to live on the jazz, and in one way he could see where the lieutenant was coming from... but in another, he knew that it was the danger of the missions that kept the older man from just giving up. "With Decker so close, it's best not to give him any more clues as to where we are," he added with a large smile.

"When do we start?" Face questioned Smith, who gave the younger man a large smile and a pat on the back as he swung into the full details of the sting-like operation that would bring the local mob bully to his knees.

Finally Smith held up a long list and handed it over to Peck. "This is the stuff we'll need. See what you can get, and take Murdock with you - he's been foaming at the mouth to run a few scams with you."

Face dismissed those words with an "He just wants to drive the car" comment as he looked at the list and winced. Some of the items on the list would be easy to obtain, others would be costly. "Who's paying for all this?" he asked casually; he knew that the young lady had no money to speak of. Seeing the averted eyes, he knew that his question had been answered. Standing, he threw on his coat, advising Smith in a harsh tone, "Keep doing free jobs and we won't be able to get about without robbing a bank ourselves."

Smith gave the other man a knowing grin, then - standing up - he reached an arm about Face's shoulders, saying in a fatherly fashion, "Now, Templeton, you know that we can afford a few freebies - and putting this type of scum away is good for the soul." He gave the man a slight shake and added, "After this job, I promise a long holiday well away from Decker and any troubles."

"A cruise?" Face asked, his tone brightening at the thought of a month just laying in the sun, soaking up the attentions of pretty women who were bored with all the time they had on their hands.

"Maybe... if the others want to," Smith agreed with another bright smile. Face might bitch about the mission, but he was always like a kid at Christmas when offered a treat, and Hannibal knew that most of Templeton's moans came from a genuine concern for their welfare.

"All right," Face finally agreed, "but this is the last free one, Hannibal - the finances are getting real tight."

"You're the banker, kid. If you say no more, then we stop."

Even as Smith spoke the words, he knew that Face knew he wouldn't be able to stop, but the younger man seemed to accept the known lie between them and agreed with a smile of his own, adding, "Yeah right, and I'll grow old gracefully." Then, turning, he said, "Come on, Murdock, let's get rolling. If the colonel wants this in action by tonight, we're going to have to shake a leg."

Murdock jumped up from the seat and began to bounce about the room, very much like a puppy being told he was going for a walk. "Can I drive the car, Faceman...? Huh...? Can I, huh... can I?" he kept repeating, until Peck smiled indulgently and tossed him the keys of the car they had rented.

***

As expected, the ruse went well and he was soon deeply embedded in the team of Tony Marco. The tall Italian liked to have handsome men about him, and Templeton suited his image of himself to a tee. Although he was not a handsome man himself, he knew that he had the money to counteract his looks, and often enjoyed taking the most pretty women away from his handsome henchmen by the lure of money alone. However, Tony was not a stupid man, and he checked out the reference that the new man gave him... little knowing that he spoke through a jumble of phone leads, not to the main Mafia connection in Chicago, but to Colonel Smith a few blocks away.

His image set, Face settled down to spend the next few days gathering the information that would be needed to destroy the man who he now worked for. Although Tony was prepared to treat him like one of his own, Sonny Camporefe - his second in command - was not so trusting on the words of a phone conversation and kept his eye upon the new man, making Face's job that much harder.

"Here, you drive," Sonny said, tossing the keys at the younger man as they waited for the elevator to reach the car park.

Face caught the keys and smiled his thanks. The last two days had been hard, and he had only managed a little sleep over the period. He hated being in the lion's den on his own, but knew that to get this job done in the time they had, he had little choice but to take the risk.

"Where are we going?" Peck ventured as the doors opened onto the underground garage.

"Mr Marco wants a package picked up from the docks," Sonny supplied, eyeing the man before him with distaste. "Feel you're up to the job?"

"With you holding my hand, how could I not be?" Face shot back with a sweet smile, knowing that to show any sign of weakness to this man would only lay him open for more trouble.

"One wrong move and I'll have you," Sonny snapped back.

"You're not my type," Face retorted as he opened the door and climbed into the vehicle.

"Keep pushing, punk... just keep pushing," the other man mumbled as he too climbed into the car and settled back for the drive.

Face knew that he should make more of an effort to get on the good side of Sonny Camporefe, but he also knew that it would take too much effort and - hopefully - the job would be over in a few days, then he wouldn't have to worry about the great lumbering ox who was the one exception to the handsome entourage that Marco surrounded himself with.

The drive went without incident and the package was safely picked up and delivered back to Tony, who accepted it as a sign of the growing responsibilities of his newest recruit. Face was then given a few hours off, with the understanding that he was to be back in the casino before it opened that evening. Marco's only stipulation was to insist that Peck took another henchman with him if he left the hotel. After all, Templeton was a new lad in town and he could easily get lost in the large city.

Peck spent the afternoon looking about the city, on the pretence of finding somewhere more permanent to stay. He met up with Smith in the prearranged letting agency where the colonel had a temporary job - they had not been certain that Marco would not have him followed, and Peck had agreed with Smith that it wasn't worth the risk of exposure.

"And here is a place that just came on the market a few days ago," Smith was saying in a slightly accented voice.

"Yeah," Face said with feigned interest, taking the paper that Hannibal held out to him. "Not a bad-looking place," he commented, reading the notes that were written upon the sheet before he handed it back with a slight shake of his head. "It's a bit pricey for me just now."

"All right," Smith answered in good heart. "I've a few more in here, if you'd like to take a seat?" As he spoke, he shot a look at the man who had come in with Peck. The man said nothing, but stood with his hands folded in front of him, watching everything that happened. "This is not as high as the other one, but it's also not in quite as good an area."

The conversation between the two men tossed back and forth, until Peck had passed on most of his information in code to the older man. Finally he stood up, saying, "Look, I don't think you've got anything I'm interested in at the moment. Why don't you put me on your books and contact me if anything of interest comes in?" Face handed over a slip of paper with his details and a telephone number on. "I'm here most of the time."

Smith glanced at the paper and noted that it was written in Face's left hand, which meant that the man was not happy in his new position and that he did not feel safe. "That would be fine, sir... we might have a place coming up fairly soon over at Decker plaza," he finished, watching the other wince at the information that Decker had been sighted in the city.

"Great," Face answered with real feeling. "I'll look forward to hearing from you soon," he went on; if Decker was about, then he wanted the job over and done with as soon as possible.

"I'll get on it right away," Smith answered, showing the men to the door with a flourish and watching them until the car drove out of sight.

***

As soon as Face entered the apartment that Tony Marco had over the casino, he knew that he was in serious trouble. There were two men waiting and, as he entered, they stood up and covered the area behind him, effectively cutting off his exit. He threw them a glance and licked at suddenly dry lips. The feeling of imminent trouble grew when he saw Sonny smiling at him. The man moved forward and motioned him into the large office area that Tony usually did his business in.

"Come in, Templeton," Tony said, moving from behind his desk and waving Face further into the room. "Heard you've been looking for a place to stay."

Peck licked at his lips again and forced a smile to his fear-tightened muscles. "Yeah... figured that if I'm gonna stay here, I might as well stop living out of hotels." His voice sounded forced, even to himself, so - giving himself a mental shake - he pushed his fear back into perspective and pulled his wiseguy persona more firmly about him, waiting for Marco to continue.

"You came with some very good recommendations, Mr Peck," Marco said, moving back behind his desk and slowly opening a drawer. He withdrew a cigar and, settling back in his comfortable chair, he lit it, taking his time to draw upon it and bring it to life.

Peck could almost feel the tension in the room build, and he knew that they would only be acting so calm if they had certainty on their side. He swallowed and shot a glance about the room. He felt his eyes grow wide when he saw Maggie Davis, their client, sitting in a chair near the window. She had been partly hidden, but now she sat upright and was glaring at him with a look of pure malice.

Marco, seeing where Face's look had travelled, smiled and continued, "I see that you recognise Miss Davis - such a pretty, helpful woman." He motioned towards Sonny, who went over to her and, taking her by the arm, pulled her to her feet.

"Is this one of them?" Sonny asked, still holding the woman roughly.

She winced at the pain this caused and snatched the limb from his grasp before answering, "Yes, he's one of them... now can I go?" She glared at Sonny before turning pleading eyes upon Tony Marco, who gave her an appreciative look before nodding and pointing toward the door. She didn't need further bidding. As she reached the door, she turned and asked, "This finishes it?"

Tony waved her words aside, saying instead, "We had a deal, little lady - half the money belongs to you."

Maggie turned another look upon Face. "Keep the money," she hissed. "I've got what I wanted." She paused, looking the captured man up and down before she added with hatred in her voice, "Just make sure that you do what you promised." Turning, she fled from the room. Peck watched her go with a sinking feeling; any chance he might have had to bluff his way out had just left with her.

"Templeton Peck of the famous A-Team, no less," Sonny said, slowly walking towards him. As he reached the man, he threw a heavy punch to his middle and Face, not expecting the blow, doubled over with pain and slumped to the ground.

The world dimmed, but he managed to hold on to consciousness as he heard Tony snap, "Don't, Sonny, we need him alive... at least until we find out where the others of this A-Team are." Tony peered over his desk at the figure huddled on the floor and stated loudly, "You going to talk to us, pretty boy, or am I going to let Sonny have some fun with you?"

Peck squinted up from his position on the floor and considered a few witty replies, but the lack of breath prevented him from saying anything. Instead, he just shook his head. Tony heaved a sigh of annoyance and Sonny took aim and placed a kick towards the downed man's body. Peck tried to roll with the blow, but failed. Marco smiled at his henchman's enthusiasm and signalled for the other two men to take Peck's unconscious form from the room. Leaning back in his chair, he drew another deep breath of cigar smoke into his lungs, saying to Sonny, "That man has shamed me. Don't let him live to tell the tale."

Sonny gave his employer a large smile and nodded agreement. "Anything you say, Mr Marco," Sonny said, giving the semi-conscious man a look of pure hate as he flexed his hands in readiness. "Anything you say."

***

The car swerved and turned off onto a rough dirt track. The potholes in the road didn't seem to bother the driver, who just fought with the steering wheel as it struggled to get out of his control.

"Still feel like dying without saying a word?" Sonny Camporefe asked, jabbing the injured man in the side and smiling at the grunt of pain his action evoked.

"Go to hell," Peck mumbled about his loose teeth and bruised mouth.

Sonny laughed under his breath before adding in a conspiratorial tone, "You know, Mr Marco isn't interested in the money. Oh no," he continued, seeing that he now had Peck's attention. "He couldn't give a damn about the A-Team... oh, don't worry - we'll take the others out as soon as we find them; Miss Davis was most helpful in that area. No, it's you... you insulted him by taking his trust and then throwing it back in his face."

Peck didn't even bother to answer that statement. He had been aware that the beating the night before had not been to gather information. Sonny had enjoyed himself too much, at times not even bothering to ask questions as he took a knife and slowly slipped the scalpel-sharp blade along the flesh of the man tied to the wall. Face had been tortured before, by men far more experienced than Sonny, but few had ever shown such pleasure from hurting another human being as the man who sat beside him did.

"Don't worry about the pain," Sonny continued, reaching out and gripping Peck's face. Slowly he turned it toward him and stated coldly, "Soon you won't hurt any more, that I can promise you."

Peck was unable to stop the shudder of fear that rippled up his body at the other's touch. The man's hands were as cold as the grave he would soon be occupying. "The others will find you, and then they will kill you," Face shot back, his anger flaring within his pale face. "If I die, Smith and the others won't give up until you're dead."

"Are you begging for your life?" Sonny asked, showing a slight sign of interest; like a cat with a mouse, he liked to play with his victims .

"No," Peck spat back with more bravado than he felt. "I'm just predicting your future."

"We're nearly there, Mr Camporefe," the driver's heavily accented voice suddenly interrupted from the front, his eyes fixed firmly upon the dirt track lit up by the headlights of the car.

Sonny gave him a nod and, reaching into his jacket, pulled out a gun and pushed it firmly against Peck's ribs. Face wanted to groan at the pain this caused, but bit it back when he saw the gleam in Sonny's eyes. The only reason he was still alive was because Sonny didn't want to have to wait while the car was cleaned afterwards.

Slowly the vehicle pulled to a stop and the driver climbed out. Moving round, he opened the back door and roughly pulled Face from the car. He helped steady him as Peck's legs refused to obey.

"Get moving," Sonny said sharply from behind as he climbed out after Peck and gave him a hard shove, which he knew would cause the man to fall. Face tumbled to the ground and, while he was weakly struggling to regain his footing, Sonny leant down and hissed, "Get up, otherwise I'm going to shoot you where you lie."

"What the hell," gasped Face tiredly, looking up at the mean-mouthed man and wishing that he would just do as he said and end his pain. "You're going to do it anyway," he finished, refusing to move another step.

Sonny looked down at the dishevelled man at his feet and let an evil grin slip across his features. Slowly he raised his gun. Reaching out a foot, he gently prodded Peck in the side, gaining his attention. Then, reaching out, Sonny roughly pulled Face up into a kneeling position and, looking deeply into Peck's eyes, he slowly aimed his gun. He wanted the injured man to fully savour his last few breaths on this earth. He never broke eye contact as he depressed his finger upon the trigger.

Face watched in fascinated horror as he saw the look in the other's eyes and knew that this man was going to kill him. He swallowed the bile that rose in his throat as he saw the finger whiten on the trigger. He wanted to blink, but his eyes refused to obey.

The sound of the blast from a gun rocked the small clearing and slowly the body tumbled to the ground, a bloody red stain slowly spreading across the dead man's chest. A second gunshot raced through the night sky as the dying man convulsed once before death stole over him.

Face observed Sonny's startled expression just before death took him. The shot from the dying man's gun went harmlessly over Peck's shoulder. He turned startled eyes upon the driver and saw that the man was frozen in position. Slowly turning, he let his eyes creep across the clearing just in time to see Hannibal advance from between the trees.

Face's first reaction was to shout for joy. His second, following fast on the heels of the first, was to cry out his frustration at the time it had taken his friends to reach him. He wanted to run to Hannibal and Murdock, but he knew that his body would betray him. Instead he just knelt there, head bowed, until the others reached him.

Hannibal motioned sharply towards Murdock who, pulling his gun, guided the frozen driver out of Peck's sight, jabbering on as he did so about the many ways to tie rope and knots he had learned on a recent trip to knotland. Face could see from the concerned look that the crazy pilot was throwing his way that Murdock was distressed by the closeness of Peck's rescue.

"How you doing, son?" Hannibal asked, gently moving Face so that he could untie his hands and check his injuries. "No... don't move. Let me do all the work," Smith advised, pushing Peck down into a prone position as the other man tried to sit up. "Just lie still for a moment."

"How is he, Colonel?" Murdock asked, coming back into the clearing and standing over them, his whole body fidgeting with his distress and concern. "He's going to be alright...? I really thought we were going to be too late..." he continued to babble, his fear rising with every word.

"Get BA and the van up here," Smith snapped as he gently opened Face's shirt and winced at the torn skin he saw underneath. He wanted to get Murdock away from Face before the man totally collapsed and he had two patients on his hands. Murdock had been going crazy on the drive up to the clearing, yet they had had to follow the car and wait until the occupants were out of the vehicle before they acted, for fear of Sonny shooting Face at point blank range if cornered.

"You took your time," Face gasped weakly as Hannibal pulled out some items from the bag he carried and began to tend to his injuries.

"Had Murdock follow you from the Renting Agency. He saw you go into Marco's place and Maggie Davis come out a short time later, looking like the cat that had eaten the canary. Took us a few hours to get the details from her, but once we knew what she'd done, we returned to Marco's place just in time to see him leave with you." As he finished, he pointed towards the cooling corpse, "We decided to follow... good thing we did."

"Ahhh, Hannibal, that hurts," Face whined, trying to pull away from the older man but failing miserably.

"Take it easy, Face, I just want to get this cleaned up a bit before we get you to a doctor." Smith was concerned by Face's pale complexion and knew from the stains upon the other man's clothes that the blood loss had been heavy, but he also realised that rest would be the best medicine for his young friend.

Peck opened his mouth to ask more questions, but just then the van pulled up and Murdock and BA leapt out, both rushing to their injured friend's side. Within a few minutes, Smith took control of the situation and soon had Face warmly wrapped up and resting in one of the comfortable chairs in the back of the van.

Hannibal spent a few minutes fussing with the body of Sonny Camporefe, slipping incriminating papers against Tony Marco into the man's jacket, and then - after a little playacting with Murdock, well within hearing range of the driver - Smith was assured that the man would be more than willing to co-operate with the police, as he now thought that Tony Marco wanted him dead.

"We'll give the police an anonymous phone call once we're out of the area and tell them where Sonny Camporefe and the driver are," Smith said as he climbed into the front of the van. "With the information and incriminating papers on Sonny, they should be able to lock Marco up for a long, long time."

"What about Maggie Davis?" Face asked from the back of the van. Now that he was back with his friends and safe, he could feel his strength returning, as if drawing it from the companionship of his three friends.

"We let BA have a little talk with her."

"And?" Face questioned, sitting further up in his seat. He knew that the strong man of the team would not hurt a child or woman, and was interested to know just what had happened.

"He played a real mean, nasty and moody chap," Murdock chipped in, his equilibrium returning now that they were all together once more and Faceman was safe... wounded, but safe. He knew that Peck would make the most of his injuries, and was quite prepared to play the role of devoted servant for as long as his friend wanted him to. "By the time he'd finished, she was ready to spill all the beans."

"The beans?" Face asked in some confusion, looking from one man to the other.

"Our Miss Davis is not quite what she seemed," Hannibal said, removing the unlit cigar from between his lips and getting into the swing of the discussion. "Apparently we put her brother away a few years ago, Face. Do you remember a Jared Davis?"

"Jared Davis... no...." Face paused as the name slowly swam back into his memory. "Wait a minute, didn't we get him for selling drugs at that kids' school a few years back?"

"Yeah, that's him. He got fifteen years - unfortunately, he annoyed someone inside and was murdered about six months ago during a knife fight."

"None of this showed up on the background check we did on Maggie Davis," Peck stated. He had done the checks himself, and he was always most careful about checking out their clients.

"Don't worry about it, Face," Hannibal hurried to reassure his young friend. "She knew who she was after and acted accordingly, even down to the show of tears during the interview." Smith rarely sounded so bitter, but the sight of his young lieutenant kneeling in front of Sonny Camporefe while he took aim still burned within the memory of the colonel. "She was damned good," Hannibal said, with obvious disgust for not seeing the girl for what she was clear in his voice. "But she's going to have an interesting time explaining to Tony Marco and his people as to why she helped set him up with the police."

"She helped set Tony up with the police?" Face repeated, now totally confused. "But she didn't..." He stopped when he noticed the grin of pure evil upon his leader's face.

"You know that, and I know that... but Tony Marco doesn't." Smith was well pleased with himself now, and any regrets he might have had were dispelled by the repeated vision of Peck kneeling before the would-be killer.

"What happens now?" Face asked, feeling his burst of strength beginning to fade. He realised with a shock that he was fighting to keep his eyes open; the warmth and rocking motion of the van was starting to take its toll upon his exhausted body.

"Now," Smith answered, in a stern but gentle voice as he watched the other man's eyes droop and saw him fighting to keep them open, "you get some sleep. We'll wake you as soon as we get to the next town, where we'll have the local doctor check you over, then we'll check into a motel for the night. Oh, and Face... if the doctor asks, you got into a bar fight."

"Bar fight," Face repeated, wincing slightly as he tried to get more comfortable and his injuries reminded him they were there. "Right, with at least eight other men," he agreed, totally missing the look of concern that passed between Smith and Murdock. The latter opened his mouth to ask a question, but Hannibal shook his head and HM slowly closed it and settled back in his own seat.

As the van fell silent, the gentle thrum of the motor soon had Face slipping into a light, healing doze. He had been beaten enough times to know that he would survive this one; he was aware that he would ache for quite a few days, if not a whole week, but he would heal - which, he realised with a slight shudder, was considerably better than the alternative of the Team arriving too late to save him. As he drifted, he let his mind float; Hannibal had promised a long cruise after this job, and with his injuries Face knew that he would be able to get the cruise he wanted... and, if he played his cards right, Smith might even allow him to do some gambling with their joint funds.

As he let his mind wander, Peck briefly considered the actions of Maggie Davis and was unable to suppress the shiver that rippled up his back. How many other people were out there waiting for revenge against the A-Team? Would they finally fall victims to Decker, or someone else the army sent after them? Even as the thought solidified itself, he pushed it to one side - as long as they were a team, then no-one could win against them. They had proven that successfully against the army for the last fifteen years.

 


End file.
